


Found a burning rose (let it wither and decay)

by theonewiththeWeirdEye



Category: Mianite (Fandom), Mianite - Fandom, Realm of Mianite - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Darkness, Everyone in the mianite universe is here and has powers, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Near Death Experiences, Possessed!Jordan, Red Eyes TM, everyone but TOM, there's also an entire scene that killed me to write, tom has been banned from cool powers by The Council
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25003111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theonewiththeWeirdEye/pseuds/theonewiththeWeirdEye
Summary: To say that Tom had an ounce of intelligence in him was malarkey in itself.Because if it were for Tom to be smart, he wouldn’t be, y’know, running from the fucking police.--In which Tom finds a family when he never asked for one.
Relationships: Spark/Ianite, Syndisparklez - Relationship, Tom Cassell/Jordan Maron, Tom Cassell/Waglington, others
Comments: 31
Kudos: 41





	1. Running, running, running, running.

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is a trial/pilot chapter!  
> If this fic goes well, I'll continue it. Just writing this chapter alone has been exhausting. If the feedback is positive, then please don't expect for me to update this at least for a month. If so, see you in a month!

To say that Tom had an ounce of intelligence in him was malarkey in itself.

Because if it were for Tom to be smart, he wouldn’t be, y’know,  _ running from the fucking police _ .

His feet could barely keep up with how fast he was running. He thought he sprained his ankle at some point after his foot got stuck between two branches, but he had no time to think about it. His blood was pumping hard through his veins, adrenaline rushing from his head to his toes. At some point he felt like screaming, just cause, but that would be a little too stupid, even for him.

Even though he couldn’t see the red and blue lights flashing behind him anymore, he couldn’t trust that they stopped following him.

So he kept running.

His feet should’ve given up miles ago, but he somehow found the strength to keep pushing forward.

_ To keep running _ .

He eventually saw a house. It looked abandoned, no light coming from it, no sign of life around it, so Tom headed towards it. As he stepped in front of it, he heard a loud ringing in his ears which made him collapse in front of the door and scream in pain. The last thing he remembered was a tall silhouette step in front of him before his vision went dark.

* * *

It felt like a blink of an eye. One moment he was in front of the abandoned house, screaming his lungs out, the next he was in a room he didn’t recognize, on a bed that didn’t feel like his own. He heard a quiet gasp, which made him glance over at the person sitting beside him. As his vision focused, he could see a woman with dyed purple hair and bright eyes that had different colors, one green and one matching her purple hair. He wanted to rub his eyes because no one has purple eyes, but he couldn’t find the energy to do so.

When he wanted to speak, the woman quickly got up and headed towards the door.

“Spark! He’s awake!” He heard her say as she exited the door. He tried to keep his eyes focused, but it became harder and harder to do so. He heard the door open again and someone enter but he couldn’t stay conscious long enough to see who came in.

The next time he woke up, he actually felt like he slept, not that he skipped what could’ve been hours or days even. He was alone this time. He slowly got up to sit on the side of the bed and look around. The room he was in had the bare minimum in it. A bed, a nightstand, some fake potted plants and an ugly striped brown wallpaper, but no windows.

Huh.

He got up from the bed and went to open the door, but found it locked. Fuck.

Before he could freak out about being locked in a strange room with no windows in the middle of god-knows-where-ville, he heard the door being unlocked and someone quickly coming in and pinning him against the wall. The man wasn’t taller than him, but he was for sure stronger.

“So you’re the fucker who tried to steal from us.” The man growled, green eyes glaring at Tom.

“Woah, woah, dude, I wasn’t trying to steal I-” Tom’s breath got knocked out of him as the other pushed his arms into his chest. “ _ Please… _ ” Tom managed to get out with the last bit of breath in his lungs.

“Spark!” A familiar voice spoke, the voice of the woman he saw when he first woke up. “Let him go, I went through  _ so much trouble _ to get him stabilized again, do  _ not _ fuck up my work.”

The man seemed to relax a little, his arm moving away from Tom’s chest, but still keeping him pinned.

“Alright then,” The man, whose name Tom figured it must be Spark, grumbled quietly. His glare never left Tom, though. “Say your piece. What are you doing here? How did you find us?”

Tom had to take a minute to catch his breath, wheezing any time he tried to speak up. The woman put a hand on his shoulder and he suddenly felt a lot better. He coughed twice, then looked at Spark.

“I was running away from the police, ran in the forest, ran  _ like hell through the forest _ with one hell of an adrenaline rush, saw this house and thought I could hide in it, and then I guess you guys caught me, or something,” Tom explained quickly.

“Why were you running away from the police?” Spark pressed.

“Mate, I got no fucking clue why they went so hard after me,” Tom answered. “I came to Ruxomar a couple of months ago on a job offer, found that the company never existed, had no way to go home and I’ve been homeless ever since. I was trying to steal, yeah, back in the city, not here, but like, they had helicopters and shit after me.”

Spark paused. He looked at the woman for a moment, then back at Tom. 

“Do you happen to have… special abilities?” The woman asked carefully.

“Special abilities? I can hardly do math, what makes you think I have ‘special abilities’!?” Tom realized he may have sounded way too harsh because that Spark guy jabbed him hard in his chest. “Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Tom whined.

A few moments of silence followed the two people in front of him seemingly having some sort of silent conversation. Spark let him go and Tom felt like he could breathe properly again.

“You must be very hungry.” The woman smiled at Tom and gently put a hand on his back. “I’ll take you to the kitchen. Just… be mindful of the rest of the people here. We are in this place for a reason.”

Tom was so fucking confused.

As he exited the room, Spark was keeping a very close watch on him while the woman was guiding him. When he looked in front of himself, he saw the longest hallway in his life, lined with rooms and doors that looked all the same. When he tried to look behind, Spark nudged him forward with a glare.

“My name is Ianite, by the way.” She said. “Would you like telling me yours?”

“But we-” Ianite shot Spark a glare before he could finish.

“Uh…” Tom scratched the back of his head. It was then that he realized he had… no scars. No wounds. He remembered spraining his ankle, getting cuts and scratches all over his body, but… none of it was present. “My name is… Tom.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Tom.” He felt a sense of calmness when he heard Ianite’s voice again, but in the back of his mind, he was worried about these nutcases.

He was definitely going to get murdered.

* * *

As Tom arrived at the kitchen, he saw a few people idly chatting and he could smell something good being cooked. When they got close enough, the group of people looked at them warily but seeing Ianite’s smile seemed to ease them.

“What are you making, Declan?” Ianite asked.

“Jus’ sum ribs n’ mashed potatoes. Helgrind and Martha are on their watch now, so they prolly already ate. Dunno about Andor.” Tom had a hard time understanding this Declan dude.

“That’s nice to know. Any chance there’ll be enough for our guest as well?” Ianite moved away from Tom and walked towards the fridge to take something out. Tom’s attention was quickly caught by a rugged-looking man that was leaned over the island who started snickering.

“We feeding the dogs now, huh?” The man said and Tom couldn’t help but glare at him.

“Karl.” Spark said carefully.

_ Karl _ rolled his eyes. He then walked up to Tom and pat him on the back.

“Welcome to the madness, mate.” Karl grinned at him.

“Wait,” Tom widened his eyes in realization. “You from the islands?” The accent was unmistakable.

“Mate, don’t tell me…” Karl’s eyes also widened with excitement.

“Minetuga born and raised!” Tom opened his arms wide.

“Bruv, I’m an island over!” Karl also opened his arms wide. “Lrakinite’s my island!”

“Bruv!” Tom grabbed Karl’s arm as Karl grabbed his own, matching Karl’s excitement.

“Bruv!” Karl repeated.

“Been a while since I’ve seen someone from the Islands.

“Dec’s from the islands too!” Karl pointed at the man who was still working on the ribs. Right, Ianite mentioned his name earlier.

“Aye,” Declan nodded in agreement. “Churchhill Island, was one of the people who lived in the tower.”

“Damn.” Tom stared at Declan in awe. “Why the fuck would you leave that place? It’s like, a dreamscape.”

“Not everything is like it seems, mate.” Declan sighed.

Before the three of them could continue their chatter, another person came in, breathless, seeming to have ran all the way over there.

“Tucker? Are you okay?” Ianite asked.

“He-” Tucker wheezed. “He’s out.”

Everyone immediately went tense.

“Tucker, go bring Andor. Declan, Karl, Spark… be ready.” Ianite said carefully, her eyes darting back and forth across the hallways. Tucker didn’t seem happy that he had to run all the way back to find this Andor kid, but when he did, a wave of electricity zapped behind him as he took off at a speed he didn’t think of was humanly possible.

“Tom, you should-” Spark started, but the room was already getting too dark and Tom felt like he couldn’t breathe anymore, even though he was aware that he still was.

“Declan!” Karl’s voice boomed over the darkness and the ringing Tom despised was back. It wasn’t too terrible, but he figured for someone else it was. “Jordan, we need you to stay calm. Everything is going to be alright.”

“My name...is...NOT Jordan!” a voice screamed loudly from the darkness, and Tom was shaking. He was shivering and terrified beyond belief.

Then there was a pair of blood red eyes staring directly at him.

Tom couldn’t see the body. He couldn’t see the outline of this person’s face, or mouth, or anything.

Just their eyes.

“I’ve never seen you before,” they spoke, and it clicked that this must be Jordan.

Jordan, the one who was screaming in the corner about not being Jordan.

His voice was crackly, and it was different from any other voice Tom had ever heard. He continued speaking. “All this nonsense they try with, the frequency and darkness shit, it’s a bit overkill, don’t you think? I can see through this facade.” Tom could feel the eyes looking him up and down. “You’re a human. A pretty decent looking one at that. No, even better. I’d fuck you.” He, more like an it if he really thought about it, let out a shrill laugh that made Tom shiver all over again. “Jordan hasn’t let me see humans since I killed hundreds of them three years ago.” It laughed again.

Tom was pretty sure this was the most evil thing he had ever come in contact with.

“Their deaths were painless, don’t worry. I just reach out, and touch them. Simple as that. I could make it a thousand times more worse, but I don’t see the hassle. Why would I want to get blood on my hands? Human blood is one of the most filthy things in the world you know.

“The police were so certain it was some cunning thief murdering for sport. But it’s much more than that. I know the thoughts and feelings of all these people. I can feel it when I’m holding them and they’re dying in my hands.” Tom felt sick to his stomach.

Tom tried backing up but found himself stuck by the island. He couldn’t see anything aside from those  _ red eyes _ . He felt them getting closer and closer, he could almost feel a pair of fingers touching his arm.

But just as Jordan- or whatever this thing was, got to him, there was a sudden flash of white, hot electricity shooting through the body in front of him, screaming and recoiling back before dropping to the ground.

Tom couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t feel. He didn’t know where he was or what was happening.

He was unconscious before he hit the tiled floor.

* * *

  
  


When he woke up, Tom was screaming.

But soon enough he felt a pair of hands carefully let him down back onto his bed and that calming feeling wash over him again.

“Ianite?” He called out quietly.

As his eyes focused, he saw Ianite smiling gently at him, pushing a few strands of hair off of his face.

“Welcome back, Tom.” Her voice was smooth, but careful and precise.”Are you okay? We thought we lost you there. It… it’s unlike him to miss the chance of jumping at the neck of a new prey. How did you… how did you convince him not to touch you?”

Tom remembered darkness and something touching him and blood red eyes and  _ Jordan Jordan Jordan _

Tom remembered.

_ But he did touch me _ , Tom thought. Briefly, at least, but maybe the exposure wasn’t long enough for the killing to take effect.

“I don’t… know? He kinda just told me I’m hot and he would fuck me?” Tom chewed on his lip nervously as he watched Ianite’s expression.

“Strange indeed.” Ianite hummed as she sat in thought. “Not the… horny part. That’s why he’s jailed, but just… not killing you.”

“Maybe he did try to kill me, who knows, maybe you guys were just quick enough to stop it. I couldn’t see shit, so I don’t know.” Tom groaned as he adjusted his position on the bed to see Ianite better.

“I can feel your anxiety all through my body. Try and lower that a little, alright? You’re making my bones ache.”

“It’s not my fault,” Tom said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. “You’re the one digging around in my brain. If you don’t like what you see, get out.”

Ianite sighed. “All I’m saying Tom, is that you don’t need to be afraid. You’re safe here.”

“I’m just trying to make sense of what’s happening.” Tom leaned back on the bed and put his hands on his head. “Like, some guy just started running at high speeds with no issue,  _ that fucking ringing too _ , and there’s a murderer here who can kill people by a simple touch? I don’t mean to offend by this, but I do mean it from the bottom of my heart:  _ what. The fuck. _ ”

“There… isn’t really much to say other than it… is what it is. What you saw was real, what you felt was real, and all of us are here  _ because _ of that." Ianite grabbed Tom's hand. "You're human, as much as my husband wants to pretend that you're not.

"But maybe he's right in pretending… You might be our answer here, Thomas. You might be able to- to get to Jordan and to Dark-"

"Dark?" Tom raised a brow at her. "You mean the red eye fucker?"

"Yes, I mean the "red eye fucker"." Ianite rolled her eyes. "He chose that name himself and we didn’t know how else to refer to him, so that stuck.”

“Isn’t his name Jordan?”

Ianite chewed her lip. “No. Jordan is his host. Dark… we don’t really know what he is, he is unlike any of us.”

Tom nodded. At this point, nothing made sense, so all he could do was just nod.

“He didn’t kill you, that’s what we need to focus on.” Ianite grabbed Tom’s hand. “Please, help us. For Jordan’s sake. He brought us all together and he deserves to be happy.”

Tom swallowed hard.

“Okay.”

Even as Ianite grinned happily, Tom’s stomach sunk hard. These people could  _ and _ would kill him. So he was too scared to say no.

“Thank you so much, Tom.” Ianite squeezed his hand. "Jordan needs a friend. And if  _ he _ won't kill you, then Jordan can finally have someone."

“Yeah.” was the only thing Tom managed to get out.

There was a knock on the door which made both of them snap their heads towards it.

“Okay, I need you to pretend you have powers, okay? They wouldn’t let you live here if they knew you were human.” Ianite squeezed his hand one last time before letting go. “Karl is here, he’s gonna take you to the kitchen to actually eat. You must be starving.”

Ianite got up and opened the door and as soon as Tom saw red eyes, he had to cover his mouth to keep himself from screaming. He quickly realized they weren’t the same red eyes.

“Oh- sorry, was I interrupting something?” The man had scruffy hair with a patchy beard that had all sorts of flowers braided into the mess of hair and wore a loose white button-up. 

“No, not at all, Dianite! What do you need, brother?” Ianite asked.

“Uh, just making sure you’re okay after Dark got out. Who’s the guy?” Dianite eyed Tom curiously.

“This,” Ianite gestured at Tom. “Is our new member of the family! He has very weak powers, but I guess it was enough for the Hunters to chase after him the other night.”

Dianite nodded in understanding.

“They’re slaughtering us like animals, aren’t they?” Dianite sighed. “Sorry, Tom. Glad you found us, though. Welcome to the family.”

“Oh, uh… thank you.” Tom swallowed hard.

Dianite walked in the room and held out his hand. “And nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Tom said as he shook Dianite’s hand. The man then turned the hand over and bent down to kiss it which made Tom turn twenty shades redder. 

Dianite chuckled as Ianite slapped his shoulder, then he rolled his eyes at her. “Come on, I’m just messing around.”

Ianite narrowed her eyes at him.

“What am I looking at?” Karl asked as he leaned against the door frame.

“Oh, Karl! Nice to see you!” Ianite then looked at Tom. “Come on, get up, Karl will take you to the kitchen to eat.”

Tom slowly moved out of bed. While his body wasn’t hurting anymore, he felt so weak that when he tried to get up, he almost stumbled back into the bed if it weren’t for Dianite catching him right before.

“Careful.” Dianite looked down at him concerned.

It really didn’t help that Dianite was hot. It really didn’t. Tom looked away.

Karl quickly came to his side and helped him up. “Let’s go, mate, before Dianite devours your soul or something.” 

“Hey!” Dianite protested.

Karl rolled his eyes and Tom clung to him as they walked out of the room.

There was a moment of silence as they walked away, before Karl spoke up again.

“So how are you adjusting, man?” Karl asked.

Tom shrugged and gave out a long sigh. Karl chuckled at that.

“I get it, man. We’re a lot.” Karl squeezed Tom’s shoulder.

"So what's that guy's deal?" Tom looked over at Karl.

"Dianite? Well, he's Ianite's brother, and he kinda likes acting like he's a demon of sorts. Which, I mean, it is kind of what he does. Like, he can grant you shit and he owns your soul typa thing." Karl waved his hand around as he tried to explain. "Of course he's not  _ that _ powerful, but he is one of the guys to fear."

"What about Jordan?" Karl went uneasy at Tom's sudden question.

"He's, uh… he's the one that's insanely powerful here, but also the one that brought us all together. If it weren't for him, this safe haven that we have here wouldn't have existed. And as much as I wish to… y'know, go out and hang out with my mates again, at some beat up old bar where ol' Jimmy serves his shitty whiskey… I can't anymore. None of us can anymore." Karl sighed sadly. "I've watched so many people like us get killed on sight- hell, even people who weren't like us but were thought to be like us got killed by those fucking  _ cunts _ .

"The reality is that this world isn't ready for our people to exist in it. They're not ready to accept us as who we are. Ever since the pandemic when our genes got fucked up, they think of us as sick. But you know the story. All of us know the story. Tom… I'm glad that you found us. And I can't wait to see what you're able to do." Karl offered Tom a sympathetic smile.

After smiling back and nodding as a response, his eyes fell stuck to the floor. He never really knew about people like this. He heard, but never fully believed. And now that he had met them, he felt guilty for even the smallest ounce of hatred he had in his mind over them prior to knowing them. He didn't belong here. All these people were too kind, too good, and Tom was just a criminal on the run. Maybe he should leave. These people's kindness aside, there was also a psycho-killer demon in this house that wanted him dead.

But there was also Ianite, who asked him for help. And maybe he said yes out of fear, maybe he said yes to be thankful for all the kindness she offered him, but he did promise to try and help Jordan.

Ah, fuck, there's too much to think about. Tom's brain hurt.

As they arrived at the kitchen, there weren’t as many people around. The guy that came running in the kitchen back then was not sitting on a stool, eating an apple as he wrote something in a thick book. Tucker was his name, as far as Tom recalled.

“Sup, dude.” Karl went to fistbump the guy. Tucker fistbumped back. “Finished your rounds?”

“I’m cool, dude. Yeah, got done with my rounds, Martha already went out.” Tucker paused to take another bite from the apple. “Tom, was it?” Tucker pointed a finger at Tom with the hand that held the apple.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Tom carefully sat on the stool at the isle and Karl immediately went to bring him his food.

“Heard Dark didn’t kill you.” Tucker said and tension immediately started to rise in the air. “What did you do?”

“I don’t think now is the time, Tucker.” Karl narrowed his eyes.

“I was just asking!”

“It’s… it’s fine. I don’t know what I did, honestly. But it scared the living shit out of me.” Tom said as he grabbed the fork Karl brought him then took a bite from the mashed potatoes in the plate in front of him.

Silence followed immediately after, the only sounds in the room being the clicking of the fork against the plate and small bites of an apple.

“So you’re kinda like Flash, huh, Tucker?” Tom broke the silence.

“I guess…” Tucker said quietly but he could see a faint smile curl up at the corner of his lips.

“He’s fucking loving that, man.” Karl laughed. “Biggest compliment to him.”

“Shut the fuck up, Karl.” Tucker glared at him.

Tom couldn’t help but laugh as well.

A younger boy came into the kitchen, looking exhausted. A pair of paper wings were attached to his back and a torn up paper crown sat on his head.

“Hey, Andor.” The name sounded familiar to Tom when Karl spoke it. “Are you okay after yesterday?”

The boy nodded very briefly.

Another thing Tom noticed was that he had rubber gloves on his hands, tied fairly tightly with rubber bands. Then Tom remembered. His name was yelled yesterday when Dark came around. He wondered if this kid was the reason for the electric shock on Dark. Tom chewed his lip anxiously.

“Andor, this is Tom. He’s your new big brother.” Karl said with a forced smile. Tom could see the pity in Karl’s eyes and it made Tom wonder what sorts of hell did this child go through.

Andor looked at Tom in a way that made Tom shiver. He had never seen anyone’s eyes look so empty and sad. He understood Karl’s pity towards the child.

“Hello there.” Tom gave a more genuine smile to the child. “You wanna a rib?” Tom asked as he waved a piece of the rib in front of his face.

Andor gave him a small smile. “No, thank you. I have eaten with my grandmother earlier.” 

“Your loss, mate.” Tom downed the rib.

“Do you need something?” Tucker finally spoke up and looked up from the book he was writing in.

“No,” Andor’s smile quickly faded. “I was just looking for Steve.”

“He already left for his farm.” Tucker’s eyes fell back into the book. “When I’m done here, I’ll take you to him. Sounds good?”

Andor grinned with excitement, although his eyes still looked as empty. “Okay!”

“Wait for me in the living room, will you?” Tucker offered him the quickest smile before going back to his work.

Andor took no time to run off, arms opening up as if he was trying to take off in flight, but he only kept running down the hall.

“Whose kid is this?” Tom asked after Andor was gone.

“Helgrind’s. You haven’t met him.” Karl took Tom’s empty plate and put it in the sink. “And Helgrind is Ianite’s son.”

Tom blinked. “Wait, Ianite is the kid’s grandma?” 

“Yeah, man. I know, she still looks in her mid twenties. It’s her powers.” 

Tom nodded. Right, things can only get crazier.

After a while, Dianite joined them again, along with a really old looking man and a younger man that looked eerily similar to him, but had a scarf wrapped around him that covered the lower half of his face. The younger man sat by Dianite and leaned against him, while the older man say by Karl and looked very annoyed.

"Who's the new guy?" He heard the younger one whisper to Dianite.

Dianite took the opportunity to get up, grab Tom's hand and the younger guy's hand and link them together. What a weirdo.

"This, my dear, is Tom. Tom, meet my fiance and partner in life and death, Mot." Dianite said, bowing between the two of them as he brought their hands up. Jeez, this guy was real dramatic.

"Is… is your name my name backwards?" Tom asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Is your name  _ mine _ backwards?" Mot mirrored his expression.

Dianite wrapped his arms around the two of them.

"Now, now, please don't fight. There’s enough of me for both of you.” Diante offered Mot a kiss on the top of his head.

“I’d rather…” Before Tom could finish his sentence, he felt something prodding his brain that made him feel very calm. The only thing he could focus on was Dianite, watching him with big eyes and mouth open, his mind only able to think Dianite’s name over and over again..

“Stop that, Dia.” Mot jabbed Dianite’s side with his elbow and Tom’s head felt clear again.

He glared at Dianite.

“Asshole.” Tom pushed himself away from Dianite and gave him the middle finger.

Dianite shrugged with a smug smirk on his face. “If that’s what you want from me.”

Tom just turned away. Ignore the asshole and the asshole will go away. That’s what his mother always told him.

He leaned over the island and looked at the older man, holding a hand across it to him.

“It’s nice to meet you as well.” Tom said with a smile.

The older man grunted in response which made Tom slowly retract his arm.

“O...kay…” His smile flattened.

“This is Mianite.” Karl said as he sat a large cup full of coffee in front of the old guy. Tom could also smell some type of alcohol in it.

“Not a fan of people?” Tom asked with a raised brow.

“Not a fan of still being on this forsaken earth. Claims he belongs in the sky.” Tucker chimed in and Mianite glared at him.

“I am the most powerful God of all. I do not respond to such sacrilege.” Mianite spoke.

“Do you even know what sacrilege means?” Tucker narrowed his eyes at Mianite.

“With how ancient he is,” Karl chuckled. “He sure is being sacrileged to hell and back.”

Mianite just took his cup and left the room.

“Do I even need to ask if he’s always like this?” Tom looked between all the people there.

“Sometimes it hurts to even call him my brother.” Dianite sighed.

“Right, should’ve figured he’s your brother.” He rubbed his face. “Any other brothers I should know of?”

“Nope. there’s only three of us. And our mother, Angrec. But she’s too old to get out of her room.” Dianite poured himself some coffee as well and sipped it quietly.

“Mm.” Tom’s eyes fell on Mot again. “What’s your deal?”

“Luck.” Mot answered simply.

Tom looked at him, then at Dianite, then back at him, then leaned closer to whisper:

“I wouldn’t call that luck.”

Mot rolled his eyes.

“I would.”

Tom made a face then shook his head. Love is blind, or whatever.

* * *

  
  


After Karl gave him a run down of the entire place and showed him the public places, Tom got the chance to go back to his room and sleep for a little.

When he woke up next, something warm and sticky dripped down the back of his neck and covered his face causing a very uncomfortable atmosphere to consume him. His wrists and ankles were chained to the wall.

Where was he?

“Jordan hasn’t let me see humans since I killed hundreds of them three years ago,” there was that crackly strange voice, and a pair of blood red eyes. “Make that hundreds plus one.” He was laughing, evil and bitter, and suddenly Tom felt cold. Then he was screaming.

Tom woke up in cold sweat, wheezing and running his fingers through his hair, then tugged hard at it. Not hard enough to rip his hair off, but it still hurt.

He looked around and realized he was just in his room and no one else was around. He let out a pitiful cry for a moment before wiping his face and getting up from the bed. It was just a dream. He needed to go out for a walk.

He tried to remember where the bathroom was as he walked into the dark hallway, his eyes focusing just enough to see decently in front of himself.

He found a pair of stairs at the end of the hallway and he realized he went way further than Karl showed him, so he was in unfamiliar territory. Still, he saw light at the bottom of the stairs, and something drew him to it.

As Tom stepped down, he found himself in front of a door. He could faintly hear something… was it music? He pushed the door open.

The first thing he saw was a rack of dumbbells carefully arranged against the wall, a few mats neatly placed on the floor, two different workout benches, a bike, and just… a lot of workout equipment. As his eyes kept scanning the room, they fell upon a man who was using the pull-up bar, sweat dripping hard under him as his muscles flexed with each pull up, the veins clearly popping up. He had a pair of headphones on his head where the faint music came from. His black hair was messy and slicked all over his face from the pools of sweat dripping off of him. With each pull up, he let out a heavy and hot breath that clouded around his mouth and that was when Tom realized just how cold this room was.

Tom couldn’t help but watch the man breathless. A single glance with their eyes meeting told Tom that  _ oh shit _ … this was Jordan.

Jordan held the last pull-up for a moment longer, then dropped to the ground with a loud thump, grabbing his towel and letting his headphones hand from his neck. He finally turned to Tom and after wiping his face, he threw the towel over his shoulder.

The man was built like a temple and that was the least intimidating thing about him.

“What are you doing here?” Jordan asked. He felt like he was towering over Tom, even though they were about the same height.

“I- uh-... I was looking for the bathroom and I kinda got lost.” Tom hated that his voice was shaking. But could anyone blame him? The guy had a killing machine in him that could jump out at any moment. “I saw light coming from here and thought maybe someone’s awake to help me out. I- I’m sorry to bother you.”

Jordan hummed. As the other man walked around him, Tom never wanted to run away more, but he found himself unable to, his eyes glued to Jordan’s.

“You’re human.” He stated. “How did you end up here?”

Tom swallowed hard.

“I was running away from the police. Saw this house, thought it was abandoned, and I tried to get in. I passed out at the door, got brought in, and… yeah.” Tom explained quickly.

Jordan watched him carefully before grabbing a water bottle from the many that sat on the floor and taking a swig from it.

“This- this isn’t the first time we’ve met.” Tom added.

That made Jordan raise a brow at him.

“I don’t think I’ve interacted with a stupid animal before.” Jordan said, throwing the empty water bottle in the trash.

“Well, it wasn’t quite… you. Do you… not remember yesterday?” Tom asked, trying to seem as unthreatening as possible. It was clear that this guy didn’t like him.

“It was very dark. Obviously Karl’s doing. Still useless. He can still see, I’m the one who can’t.” Jordan sighed. “Interesting, though, you’ve met  _ him _ , he had a run in with a human, and made no attempts to kill?”

“I don’t know what to tell you.” Tom mumbled.

Jordan got closer to Tom, to the point where he was slightly hovering above his face. Tom didn’t even realize how much he sun, but he felt no energy to move up. Jordan leaned his arm against the wall and looked Tom all over. As Tom looked into his eyes, he could notice the color in them slowly changing to them, making Jordan tighten his fist and grit his teeth.

“You need to run.” was the last thing Jordan said before his eyes went fully red.

Tom wasted no time ducking under Jordan’s arm and trying to get away from the other. He realized he went the wrong way and ended up further in the room. Dark was right after him and before he could react, he heard the door being slammed open. He saw Ianite at the door, then saw a flash of electricity and realized Tucker came into the room. Within seconds, Tom was out of the room and back in the hallway. He heard another slam of the door and then Ianite was running up the stairs, an angry and disappointed look on her face.

“What were you  _ doing there by yourself _ !?” Ianite scolded.

“I-”

“Fucks sake, Tom, you can’t get enough of putting yourself in danger.” Tucker leaned against the wall to catch his breath.

“I’m sorry… I had no idea  _ he _ was there. I just… had a nightmare, went out for a walk, and saw that someone was awake because I saw light down there. I didn’t think… I…” Tom put his head in his hands.

Ianite sighed and pulled Tom close in a hug.

“You’re okay. You’re safe now.” Ianite whispered. “You’re lucky I felt your fear, otherwise I wouldn’t have come searching for you.”

“Very fucking lucky.” Tucker added.

Tom scratched the back of his head.

“Thank you. Honestly. You guys saved my ass so many times.” Tom said.

“Just be more careful in the future.” Ianite said, looking at Tom pitifully.

He heard footsteps behind him and as soon as he could look back, he just saw a pair of green glasses before the punch hit his face. The last thing he heard was Ianite yelling something and someone pounding hard on the basement door.

* * *

  
  


“We need to stop meeting like this.” He heard Ianite said.

Tom groaned as he got up.

“Sorry,” he muttered as he rubbed his head. “You could’ve told me at least that Jordan is not only insanely buff but also breathtakingly hot.”

“My brother isn’t available.” When Tom looked up, he saw Spark glaring at him.

“Your… brother?”  _ You look ancient, mate _ , Tom couldn’t help but think as he looked spark up and down. But it was true, Spark looked decades older while Jordan looked about his age.

“ _ Yes _ .” Spark grumbled.

“Love, please check your attitude, especially if your  _ brother _ seems to like our guest.” Ianite sighed, putting her head in her hand. She looked exhausted.

“He also keeps exhausting you!” Spark argued.

“I wouldn’t be so exhausted if you  _ hadn’t fucking punched him _ .” Ianite narrowed her eyes at her husband.

Tom stared between them awkwardly.

Spark threw his hands up and left the room.

“What’s his issue?” Tom asked when Spark was out of the room.

“He’s not keen on humans or… well anyone getting close to his brother.” Ianite rubbed her temples.

“Can I… help you somehow? You look so exhausted.” Tom said, getting up from the bed to help Ianite into it.

“Just don’t get in trouble. And send Martha to grab me an aspirin.” Ianite said as she lied down. 

Tom nodded and exited the room, but he barely made a step down the hallway before he heard someone yelling “Watch out!”, then as he turned, something or  _ someone _ ran into him. Or… flew into him, knocking him off of his feet. Tom realized that when he looked up and saw a man rubbing his head wearing a bunch of rags and scarves that floated around with him.

“Jeez, man.” The floating man sighed. “Told you to watch out. You okay?” he asked as he extended his hand down to help Tom up.

“Sorry, I didn’t expect someone to just… fly into me. “ Tom chuckled lightly to lift the tension. The other grinned and as soon as Tom grabbed him, Tom was floating up for a second, his eyes going wide during it, until he was back on his feet. “Daaaamn. Thanks, man. That’s fucking wicked. Name’s Tom.”

The other didn’t let go of Tom’s hand immediately, instead he shook it first, then let it go.

“Ohhhh, you’re the new guy! Nice to meet you! Call me Wag!” He grinned wide, then shook his head and forced a serious face, putting the hood of his robe over his head. “I mean grr… not nice to meet you.”

Tom couldn’t help but stifle a laugh then act scared, raising his hands in the air.

“Woah, so scary!” Tom really couldn’t keep his grin from showing. He already liked this guy.

“Boo, you can do better than this. Where’s the horror? The fear of death? Come on!” Wag waved his arms, making him spin around in the air. When Wag looked at him again, Tom saw bright red eyes and he immediately felt panic rise in his chest, making him back away, memories of darkness and red eyes and his body quickly decomposing flashing before him.

“I-”

“There we go! You’re a natural!” Wag cheered and clapped.

Tom blinked. Right. The demon was in the basement, not here. Tom forced a laugh and puffed his chest.

“What am I if not an amazing actor?” Tom said as Wag grabbed his hand again, making Tom float.

“Where are you heading? I can take you there very quickly.” Wag asked, then couldn’t help but laugh as he watched Tom struggle to keep himself straight while floating. “I got you.” Wag mumbled as he helped Tom straighten himself.

“Thanks, man.” Tom looked back at Wag and carefully slid his hand behind the hood then flicked it off of Wag’s head. “Better. Now, I wanted to try and find Martha.”

Wag scrunched his face when Tom removed the hood from his face, then had a sad smile when Tom mentioned Martha.

“Right, I know where she is.” And then they took off flying. Which was, truly, one of the coolest things he had ever experienced.

“Sup Wag!” Capsize grinned and waved, making Wag stop. Tom saw her reach for another card from the pile between.

“This is Tom. Found him in the hallway. He’s our new guy.” Wag explained, waving his hands all over the place. Tom could feel his face turning red.

“So he’s your pet?” Capsize said with a smirk. Tom’s blush deepened.

“We don’t keep people as pets dumbass,” the guy with giant glasses exclaimed as he punched Capsize in the shoulder with his free hand. Tom started sweating harder. He really hoped they didn’t notice. “My name’s Phil. This is Capsize, and over there is Skipper and Matt.”

“Phil, Capsize, Skipper and Matt.” Tom repeated, and then he burst into laughter. Tom wasn’t sure why that was so funny to him. He wasn’t sure if it was from the lack of sleep or deliriousness, but Tom was laughing right here right now and he had five pairs of eyes staring at him like he was crazy. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but it rhymed and I haven’t slept and I’m sorry.”

Capsize smiled. “It’s alright, we’re all a little fucked up here.” Everyone nodded their heads. Tom always found a way to make things awkward. Maybe that would be his super power, if he had one.

“Show Tom what you can do.” Wag said, trying to divert the conversation away from Tom’s awkward slip up. Tom spoke again.

“Do not under any circumstances piss this girl off,” Phil said with a jab at his thumb. “She will fuck you up.”

“I’m usually an ok guy though. Or at least I like to think so.” Capsize laughed and made daggers appear in the air and easily controlled them as she waved them around, careful enough not to hit anyone. “Pretty cool, though, huh?”

“Very cool.” Tom grinned.

“Capsize: Queen of dick jokes and daggers.” Skipper spoke up, a smug grin on his face. Capsize nodded her head.

“It’s true.”

Phil sighed as he inspected his nails. He looked extremely bored with the conversation. “Well sure Miss Dick Jokes and Giggles can manifest giant darkness fog things, but he can’t do this!” and then Tom was watching in shock as Phil waved his hand and a stream of water rose from his cup. It formed into a circle, and then it was exploding over Capsize, water soaking his hair and dripping down his forehead. Tom grinned.

“Fuck you Phil,” Capsize mumbled as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and then ran her fingers through her now sopping wet hair. “Now I’m going to have to go fix my fucking hair that took me forever to make perfect.” Phil rolled his eyes.

“And then I’ll mess it up again, but it won’t be water this time.” he was smirking, and Tom’s face was red again.

“Jesus Phil, keep it PG,” Skipper said with a sigh and a shake of his head. Tom assumed this happened a lot.

“So you’re Aquaman then?” Tom asked, trying to keep the conversation away from sex related topics.

“Phil is a lot stupider than Aquaman,” Capsize replied. In return Phil flicked his wrist and the rest of the water in his cup was dripping down Capsize’s face.

“You want to insult me again, Capsize?” Capsize shook her head.

“I’ll be good. I promise.” Capsize said. Phil grinned, satisfied.

“I can control the movement and flow of water. But there has to be a source. I can’t magically make it appear.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “I can also breathe underwater, which is pretty damn cool if I say so myself.”

“Phil at the beach is my favourite thing ever,” Capsize started, “he can make these giant ass waves rise that crash into the shore, like fuckin’ Poseidon.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Tom agreed, nodding his head. But it also was pretty freaking terrifying.

“I apologize if it’s a little humid. I can’t help that,” Phil added sheepishly.

“Enough about Phil and Capsize,” Skipper cut in before Tom could reply. “Neither one of them have powers as cool as mine.” Capsize rolled her eyes.

“You wish Skipper.”

“What can you do?” Tom asked quietly. He was scared it would be something that could kill him.

“I can’t exactly show you, but I can slow time down for a few seconds at a time. It really helps in fighting and stuff.”

“Yet I can still beat you,” Matt spoke for the first time since Tom had arrived, and everyone stared at him. Tom guessed he didn’t talk much.

Skipper snorted. “Whatever. You can beat anyone with one arm tied behind your back.” Matt nodded his head in agreement, a smirk plastered across his face.

“Super strength,” Matt told Tom, “It’s boring, but I’m okay with it.”

Tom mentally noted to not mess with anyone at this table.

“It was nice to meet all of you,” said Tom. He stood up, really wanting to be anywhere but here. Tom maybe even wanted to be around other humans, like himself. He never thought he would think that.

“You’re alright, new guy,” Capsize replied. “You can hang out with us anytime.”  _ Alright _ . Tom took that as a compliment.

“Thanks you guys,” Wag waved. Tom had forgotten he was even there.

When he walked into a building with an unlocked door, he never would have thought there would be a giant group of people with superpowers hiding away in it. If someone told Tom he was going to engage in conversation with these people, he would have ran far away from them because they were obviously high on something.

“Your heart is beating really fast,” Wag commented, his face full of concern. “Is something wrong?”

Tom shook his head. “It’s just that this is real. This isn’t a dream. You guys can do these things, like for real!”

“Like for real,” repeated Wag slowly. He rested his hand on Tom’s back. “Do you need to sit down?” Tom only nodded. He was afraid he might cry or do something stupid. “We can go to my room. There’s a spare bed. Phil, can you go grab Martha and send her to my room? Tell her it has nothing to do with me.”

Phil nodded and got up. “Alright, game break, guys. Grab snacks, and there better be plenty when I’m back!” Phil announced.

Wag carefully took Tom to his room in no time. He couldn’t help but think Skipper had a hand in it as well, because they got there way quicker than they were flying. As they got into Wag’s room, he noticed that there was only one bed, but his anxiety was too high to say something.

“I can’t, like, touch the ground, I’m permanently floating, so I never use my bed.” He then gestured at a sleeping bag hanging by the bed. “I use that when I sleep.”

Tom nodded. His mind was racing, his chest felt heavy, his head was hurting, and his brain couldn’t help but play over and over the evil laugh of that Dark guy. Every time he blinked, he could see those red eyes staring at him and it  _ terrified _ him.

Wag wrapped an arm around Tom and gently rubbed his back.

“Shh, you’re okay. You’re safe here.” Wag whispered.

“Am I safe!?” Tom snapped, which made Wag retreat a little. “You have a psycho killer in the basement that can leave at any moment and  _ kill me _ .”

“Tom…” Wag carefully ran his thumb over Tom’s hairline. “We won’t let him do that. A lot of us live here and  _ he _ has killed none of us. So why would he kill you?”

“I’m human.” The truth escaped Tom’s lips, Ianite’s warnings immediately flashing through his head. Tom broke down crying.

Wag’s eyes went wide for a moment, but he didn’t say anything. Instead he hugged Tom close. 

“ _ I’ll _ protect you.” Wag mumbled, seriousity in his voice. And for a while, Tom believed him.

He let himself cry into Wag’s shoulder.

* * *

Tom had barely turned down another hallway (he still had no idea where he was) when his body collided with another, knocking him to the floor. He really needed to watch where he was going better.

“Shit, sorry,” they said frantically and Tom realized it was Spark. He was frozen and stuck to the floor. “Oh. Tom.”

Tom didn’t say anything. He just stared and prayed Spark didn’t start cracking his bones again.

“Hey, uhm,” Spark scratched the back of his head nervously. “I wanted to apologize for the way I acted yesterday. I was really out of line, and I’m sorry. None of that was your fault. I’m the one that messed up, not you. I hope you can forgive me.”

Tom blinked a couple of times and continued to stare at Spark.

“Tom?”

“Oh, sorry.” he shook his head and pulled himself up off the floor. “Yeah. Thanks for saying sorry.”

“I’ll try to keep my cool. Ianite really likes you, so I’m gonna try my hardest.” He sighed. “Not that he’s the reason I’m gonna start being nice to you, no, it’s just that we haven’t ever really had new people around and I’m really sorry. Can we start over?”

Tom nodded his head and extended his right arm. “Hi, I’m Tom. Nice to meet you.”

“Spark. Nice to meet you too.” They shared a smile before Spark dropped his hand. “Do you want to go get your stuff now?”

“Yeah. That’d be really nice.” Spark patted his back.

“Let’s go then.” He started down the hallway and Tom followed, trying to figure out a system of memorization for this frickin’ place. Maybe he’d have to draw a map or something.

Spark led him to a door with a deadbolt quite similar to the one that kept Tyler from escaping. Tom shivered as he unlocked it. It opened to the outdoors up a set of stairs.

This was the door Tom had found.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure how he had done that.

“We have a little bit of a walk to the garage,” Spark explained as they walked. Tom looked around at the giant trees around them, the foliage so thick he could barely see the sky above him. Yeah, he really didn’t know how he had managed to find this place. “We keep it farther away for security purposes.”

A white blur zoomed past Tom, leaving a breeze behind it. Tom stopped walking.

“That’s Tucker, don’t worry. Him and Sonja are doing perimeter checks.” Oh, that’s right. That was to make sure no other humans wandered into the building.

“Tucker is a fun guy. I never met Sonja, though. What does she do?” Tom asked.

“Teleportation. Short lengths are fine, longer lengths take a lot of energy, and the more people she has to carry, the less likely it is to work.” Spark answered.

“Huh. That’s still pretty fun. She could do the anime thing of teleporting behind people and… swoosh.” He waved his hand like a sword.

“The fuck is an anime?” Spark furrowed his brows.

Tom swallowed hard and decided it would be better to avoid this discussion.

“Are there any animals that can tear me apart in these woods?” Tom asked instead, when they continued walking, his voice shaky and his eyes trying to look everywhere at once. Spark snorted.

“The scariest thing in these woods is us.”

That wasn’t comforting to Tom.

After ten more minutes of walking and the occasional conversation, Spark suddenly stopped and crouched down next to a patch of grass. He flicked out his pocket knife and dug it into the earth, feeling around until he found an old, worn out handle. Spark pulled and it groaned loudly, revealing a ladder that disappeared into darkness.

Why did everything in this place disappear into darkness? That couldn’t be safe.

“You’re going down first,” Spark stated, pointing. Tom shook his head.

“Uh, no, that’s ok.”

Spark grunted. “Now.”

Tom stared at Spark for a few seconds before giving up and warily taking a step down the ladder. He gripped the edges tightly before making his descent down.

“Flip the lightswitch when you get down there. It’s to your right.” Spark commanded.

The minute Tom’s feet touched solid ground he felt for the light and flipped it on. The room buzzed with electricity and the lights flickered on above him; Tom stared in disbelief. The garage was filled with about ten extremely nice cars. Spark’s grunt alerted his arrival.

“Black camaro farthest down.”

“No way,” Tom breathed. That was a nice car.

“Yes way. And if you as much as breathe wrong on it I will hurt you.” Spark narrowed his eyes at Tom as he ushered him towards the car.

“Noted.”

Spark unlocked the car and slid into the driver’s seat, Tom following on the passenger side. He was afraid to breathe in a car this nice. Spark revved the engine and pulled out smoothly down a long corridor. They traveled in darkness and silence before the car was barreling down a country road and making a sharp turn onto the cracked asphalt.

“You guys really know what you’re doing,” Tom tried to make small talk as they drove. He stared out the window and tried not to move.

“Jesus Christ Tom, relax. You aren’t going to hurt the car by sitting on the seat like a normal person.” Spark shook his head and Tom let his body slide down into the leather. “But yeah, we do. We’ve been here for years.”

“Are there others like you? Like other groups?” They passed a sign that said the speed limit was 50, and Spark was booking it far past 80. Tom gulped. He really hoped Spark knew what he was doing.

“Yeah, we’re scattered all over the place. I’m not sure where the closest group is to us.” He pressed his lips into a thin line. “I’ve heard rumors they aren’t very nice people.” Tom refrained from saying something along the lines of “Yeah well either are a few of you.”

“What do you mean?” he said instead.

“I’ve heard through the grapevine that they’re doing stuff. Kidnapping humans, using them, torturing them, killing them. I’m not sure for what. But it really isn’t our business to go figure out if that’s true or not.” Spark shrugged. “Besides, I don’t think any of us even know where that other clan is.”

Tom wrapped his arms around himself. If that was true, then it was a sure good thing he hadn’t walked into that one. Torture did not sound fun.

“We don’t really engage with other groups. If someone sees a lone talent, they call them in and they join us. There’s really no need for us to talk to other groups.”

“You call yourselves talents?” Tom asked, his face twisted in contortion. That was stupid.

“Well yeah. That’s what we have so it makes sense.” Spark paused before turning to look at Tom. “What did you think we were called?”

“Uhm, well, supers.” He rubbed his head awkwardly and tried to hide his flushed face. Spark burst into loud laughter, causing Tom’s blush to deepen.

“Jesus Christ Tom, we aren’t super heroes. Supers. Pfft. Stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Tom agreed with the stupid part.

“I have to say, though,” Tom said after a while. “Must be nice to have such a large community of people who… gets you, I guess?”

Spark nodded.

“Must be nice.” Tom repeated, staring at his own now shaking hands that he immediately clasped together to keep them from shaking as hard.

* * *

_ “Tom?” A male voice spoke up. “Mate, get up.” A kick to his side. _

_ Tom groaned. “Ugh, what?” Tom asked, looking up at the other man with tired eyes. “They took him.” _

_ Tom immediately perked up. _

_ “No.” Tom got up from the bed quickly and slammed the man to the wall. “You’re lying.” _

_ The guy raised his arms defensively. “Mate, I just saw them take him!” _

_ Tom gritted his teeth, grabbing the guy by the shirt before slamming him to the wall harder, making the other whimper. _

_ “Where?” _

_ “What the fuck do you mean where? How should I-” Another slam. The guy began crying. “They went west! Said something about Ruxomar!”  _

_ “What else?” _

_ “N-noth-” Another slam. “They talked about a big round building up north of Ruxomar! Never mentioned a name!” _

_ Tom let him go, but before the guy could thank him, Tom took out his gun and shot him straight in the head. _

_ Ruxomar… _

_ Months later, Tom was on a ship, heading to Ruxomar. And as soon as he got there, he went lead after lead trying to find this stupid round fucking building. When he finally did, he immediately headed for it. _

_ His eyes were dark and bloodshot, his hands were shaking as he held the gun to his own head, sitting on his knees as he stared at the burning building in front of him. _

_ This was worthless. _

_ All worthless, _

_ All worthless... _

* * *

When they reached city limits, Tom directed Spark through the streets to his apartment complex. He chewed on his lip in worry, hoping those two very scary looking large men weren’t still hanging out. It had been three days, maybe they had given up. He really hoped they had given up.

“You ok kid? Your heart’s going crazy there.”

“Can everyone hear my heartbeat? Is it really that loud?” Tom was getting a little annoyed with everyone knowing when he was afraid.

“Most of us have enhanced hearing and sight, so yes to both.” Spark sighed. “What’s wrong?”

“The police are probably still searching for me.” Tom mumbled.

“And what are they going to do? You got me, we’ll be fine.” That wasn’t comforting Tom at all.

“Alright.” Tom turned his head to look out the window. “We’re close.”

As they arrived at the place where Tom hid his stuff, in a hole behind a supermarket, hidden by a rubbish bin. But as they walked to the back of the supermarket, two gruff looking men were waiting by it, arms closed and expression unreadable.

“Stay back…” Spark whispered, holding his hand back to Tom.

Tom nodded, hugging the corner of the wall as he watched Spark move closer to the two men.

“Civilian, this place is restricted.” One of the men said.

“Says where? I’m here to grab the stuff this asshole stole from me.” Spark glared at them.

The two men looked at each other before giving a sigh, moving away but keeping an eye on Spark.

“Who the fuck steals clothes…” Spark mumbled seemingly to himself as he grabbed the things from Tom’s hole. Mostly clothes, but some other little valuables.

“Is anyone else here with you?” One of the men asked.

“Shouldn’t be. I came here alone.” Spark answered, looking them dead in the eye. This guy was good at lying, Tom thought.

“Are you sure, sir?” the man pressed.

“Thousand percent. Why would I bring anyone with me?” He narrowed his eyes as he grabbed the things and shoved them into his backpack.

He saw Spark giving him a look and Tom knew this was the time to run, but as he turned around, he got grabbed and felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed to his forehead.

“Do not move or I’ll blow your brains out  _ freak _ .” The man holding him whispered. He tried to look at him with the side of his eyes, but he could only see the gun.

Then he heard an explosion.


	2. Dead weight hanging off of my shoulder.

_Breathe._

_He told himself that as he was running away._

_Breathe._

_He told himself that as he watched him die._

_Breathe._

_He told himself that as he poured down gasoline._

**_Breathe_ ** _._

_…_

_Tom realized he didn’t know how to breathe anymore._

* * *

“Shit, oh shit, oh shit oh shit oh _fuck_.” Tom cursed as he moved away from the person who earlier had the barrel of a gun to his head.

He backed up against the wall and watched the guy hold his head from the ringing caused by the explosion, but somehow it felt like it wasn’t affecting him in any way.

Right. Fuck. He had to take care of this guy.

He immediately went to tackle him, grabbing the gun with ease since the guy seemed to be in so much pain. He looked towards the back of the building and saw the two men dead on the ground. Spark took off in a sprint and just gave Tom a look that told him everything he needed to know. Tom shot the guy he was on top of in the head, then took off running with Spark, getting into the car. As soon as they were both in, Spark took off, his foot hard on the gas. 

“Those were not the cops.” Spark growled. “What aren’t you telling me, Tom?”

Tom was taken aback.

“I- I have no clue! I swear!” He was honest. He didn’t know those people.

Spark was quiet for a moment.

“...Fine. Alright. I believe you. God fucking knows what stupid thing you’ve gotten involved in without knowing.” Spark sighed loudly, his eyes not leaving the road as his car sped through the streets. He grabbed the side of his cuffs that seemed to have a glowing button and clicked it a few times.

“What’s that?”

“It’s to alert our group that we might get followed,” Spark answered quickly.

They were in the forest roads in no time, the trees passing by fast, making a sound with each one they passed. Tom felt sick to his stomach as he tried to process what was happening. He really wanted to throw up, but he also remembered Spark would kill him if he ruined his car.

As they entered the garage, his heart felt more at ease. He realized his heartbeat probably annoyed the living shit out of Spark, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Still, his breathing eased when they finally parked, and Tom was quick to exit the car.

If it weren’t for the fact that the gun was empty, he would’ve shot the car by accident right then and there. That startled Tom, making him fall to the ground, dropping the gun.

“Easy there, Tom.” Spark sighed once again as he walked over to him. He picked up the gun with a curious expression. “Don’t you think this is weird?”

Tom tilted his head and furrowed his brows.

“The gun only had one bullet,” Spark said, even checking the cartridge to make sure he was right. He was. “Yet it fits like… sixteen, maybe eighteen bullets?”

Ah.

“That’s… very weird.” Tom agreed.

“Were they really there to only kill you?” Spark asked although it wasn’t directed to anyone in particular.

“I wouldn’t know.” Tom bit the inside of his cheek anxiously. 

“I know that.” Spark then hummed as he put the gun in his backpack. “I’ll have to teach you about gun safety.”

Spark looked around for a moment.

“She should be here any moment.” He mumbled.

“Who?”

“Sonja. She’ll take you out of here quickly. Your safety is a lot more important.” Spark scratched at his beard.

As Tom leaned back to lie down on the ground, he saw a puff of smoke form above him, then his eyes met with another pair of eyes. The smoke formed together to show a girl that wore a headband with small animal ears, the coloration telling him they were fox ears.

“Hello there.” She grinned. “Taking a nap?”

“No, but I surely need one.” Tom answered.

Sonja nodded, then extended a hand out to help Tom up.

“I need you to hold on tight, okay?” She asked as Tom got up on his feet.

“Got it.” Tom said and when she wrapped her arms around him, he quickly got a hold of her shoulders.

“Ready?” She looked up at him.

“Ready.”

Soon after, smoke started surrounding them, covering their vision, and before he realized, as the smoke started to clear up, he was back in the living room. He looked down at Sonja and saw that she had deep dark circles under her eyes and looked exhausted.

He let her go.

“I think we both need a nap.” Tom said.

Sonja laughed.

“Yeah.” Sonja mumbled as she moved back, bringing her fist up. “Pound it.”

Tom took no time to fist bump the girl.

“Nice to meet ya, dude.”

“Nice to meet you too, Sonja.” Tom nodded.

As Sonja disappeared into another puff of smoke, he saw Ianite run to him and quickly grabbing his shoulders.

“Are you okay!?” Ianite asked, panic in her voice.

“I’m fine.” Tom smiled reassuringly.

Ianite sighed in relief, letting her head hang down as she backed away.

“Please do not scare me like that ever again.” Ianite rubbed her temples. “What happened?”

“Some people were waiting for me at the place where I had my stuff hidden. They seemed to have been there to kill me, I guess? But we managed to grab my stuff and ran away in time.” Tom explained.

Ianite sighed.

“And you have no clue who those people are?”

Tom shrugged.

“Okay…” She moved back to sit on the arm chair. “Okay. So, some people that aren’t the police are after you.”

“Yes.”

“And they want to kill you.” She continued.

“Yep.”

“And you have no idea who they are.”

Tom nodded.

“Do you have a description of them?” Ianite asked, looking around to find something to write on. Defeated, she let her hands fall in her lap.

“I’ll write their description when I get my stuff.” Tom leaned back against the wall.

He heard footsteps from the hallway and Tom looked over to see Capsize.

“Hey, where’s Sonja?” Capsize asked.

“She’s probably in her room right now.” Tom answered.

“Okay, thank you!” She smiled then took off running down the hallway.

Tom hummed.

It didn’t take long after that for them to hear the front door open. Ianite was quickly back to her feet again and took off running down the hallway to go to the door.

Tom didn’t bother to try and listen in to the conversation up there, instead he went to sit on the couch, picking up one of the books left on the side table and running his thumb over the letters.

_Hollow bones_ by Myriam Rodrick. The cover depicted a pathway down a forest with faint footsteps left in the mud, two ropes tying the text to the trees. He wasn’t much of a reader, but he wanted to kill time. As he read through the summary with eyes squinted, which was only one sentence, he relaxed into the couch.

“ _A man’s choice is either to become the shadow of his ancestors or the chaos that breaks through their bones; most people don’t realize that you can choose neither._ ”

Tom raised a brow at the summary. Before he could open the book, he heard footsteps coming down and he put the book away, looking over to see Ianite and Spark coming into the room together. Spark dropped the backpack into Tom’s lap.

“We have to figure out who those men were.” Spark said as he sat in the armchair. “No one seemed to have followed us, but we can’t be too careful, so I will arrange to tighten the security.”

“I am so sorry I brought you guys so much shit.” Tom spoke up after a few moments of silence. “I really don’t think it’s at all worth it to keep me around if it’s putting you guys in danger.”

Ianite put a hand on Tom’s shoulder.

“You are a part of the family, now. And our priority is to make sure our family is safe.” Ianite told him with a small smile.

Tom chewed his lip and looked over at Spark who wasn’t saying anything.

“I’m not a talent, though. There’s no reason for you guys to keep me around.” Tom put his head in his hands. For a moment he thought he saw someone staring directly at him, but it must’ve been just someone passing down the hallway and looking at the situation.

“There’s a reason you ended up here, whether it be to help Jordan, or something else, what’s certain is that we want you to be in our family.” Ianite rubbed Tom’s shoulder and looked over at Spark.

“She is right.” Spark finally said. “Plus, this is the most exciting thing that has happened to us in a long time.”

When Tom looked up, he saw Spark looking at him, his expression unreadable, but he could tell it wasn’t a bad one.

“So now I have to give you lessons on gun safety and gun usage, as well as getting some good old fight training in you.” Spark got up from the armchair and took a deep breath. “You’re a part of the family, Tom, whether you like it or not.”

He never thought a threat could sound so nice.

* * *

He stood in front of the familiar door, awkwardly scratching his arm. He didn’t know whether he was there or not, or he was in the mood for Tom’s bullshit, but he needed to talk to someone. Especially after today’s events.

So when Wag opened the door, Tom wasted no time to wrap his arms around him and hug him tightly.

“I got you.” He whispered, carefully lifting Tom up from the floor and closing the door.

When they finally clasped each other in a warm, slow and luxurious hug, Tom finally felt the comfort he was looking for. Wag’s chests rising and falling against him, their breaths in unison, and the warm blood that they could feel in each other’s embrace.

Tom loved to touch him - never in a sexual way, never anywhere other than his face, his hands, his hair that fell in tousled locks. His warmth would seep into his being and he comforted him without ever opening his mouth.

It was safe, it was gentle, it was what Tom needed.

For hours they wouldn’t exchange any words, just some quiet groans when one of their arms got tired or a whine whenever Wag would float into a wall - it wasn’t easy to control his floating when all his energy was focused on letting Tom know he was there, that he got him, that he was safe.

He kissed Tom and the world fell away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be. His hand rested below his ear, his thumb caressing his cheek as their breaths mingled. Tom ran his fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between them and he could feel the beating of his heart against his chest.

And none of them were surprised that it happened.

Though Tom didn’t know what it meant back then, but he wasn’t about to question it. They’ve only known each other for a day, but the comfort they brought each other made _sense_.

* * *

Tom didn’t go straight to his room after leaving Wag’s, instead he kept wondering the hallways like a ghost, his head feeling cloudy.

He stopped at one of the big shared bathrooms, and slowly stepped inside. He looked at himself for a moment, realizing he hadn’t really looked in a mirror in a long time. His hand gently touched the side of his head where he saw a round scar he didn’t remember having. And a knife scar on the side of his cheek. And his eyes didn’t look… quite how he remembered. Actually, no they didn’t look anything like they remembered. As he stared into the slightly broken mirror and walked closer, his eyes were of a deep almost unnatural blue, which he only remembered them to be brown.

As he tried to remember something, he heard a gun shot right by his ear, making him fall to the ground and scream while covering his ears. He haphazardly looked around but saw no one else in the bathroom and no gun in sight.

Someone did come in the bathroom after hearing him scream. It was Tucker.

“Are you okay!?” Tucker rushed to his side.

“I… I heard a gunshot. I don’t know where it came from.” Tom’s voice was shaking, his hands in his hair.

Tucker looked around for a moment, opening each stall, checking every single corner.

“No one is here, Tom.” Tucker said, kneeling down by him to give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. It was clear that he wasn’t judging Tom. “Want me to take you to your room?”

Tom nodded.

Instead of the fast paced he expected Tucker to take, he walked slowly with Tom, making sure he was okay the entire time.

Tom didn’t understand why these people were so nice to him.

* * *

When he finally got to his own room, he felt cold.

He spent a while just arranging his things in the room. Mostly just putting his clothes away and setting some random trinkets he found on the shelves in his room. He stopped when he found a picture frame.

It was a picture of him and his father, but the face of his father was scratched out. That was the only thing Tom had from him, and it hurt that he couldn’t even remember his face. He ran his thumb gently over the grazed surface where his father’s face used to be and wondered if he was still out there.

He put the picture under his bed along with a box of other trinkets and then climbed on his bed.

He stared at the ceiling, tired after the long day he had. He still didn’t know who those people were, and only now something dawned on him.

He killed a man. And he was pretty sure it won’t be the last time he would do that.

He felt like he could hear _his_ voice. As if _he_ was taunting him.

“ _Your sins are starting to match mine. Will you crumble under them or will you become their God_?”

Tom shivered at the thought.

Somehow, the voice didn’t sound like _him_ , but… like his own.

Before he could think too much of it, he heard a knock at the door. He got up from his bed and slowly walked towards the door.

“One sec, I’m coming.” He spoke loudly.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Spark giving him a very serious look.

“He wants to see you.” Spark’s voice was monotone when he spoke.

Tom would ask who if it weren’t for him knowing exactly who was asking to see him.

“He wants to see me?” Tom raised a curious brow.

Spark only nodded, then moved out the way.

“Keep the door open.” Spark mumbled and grabbed Tom’s wrist, attaching a button to the cuff of his shirt. “Click this three times if you’re in danger.”

Tom swallowed hard.

“Okay.”

Spark let him go and Tom started heading down the hallway towards the basement.

As he stayed in front of the same door as the other night, his heart was beating fast and he couldn’t help but wonder if Jordan could hear it. He took a deep breath and unlocked the door.

The first thing he saw was that most of the gym equipment was now gathered to one side of the room rather than it being spread out throughout it. There was an eerie quietness to the room. The next thing he saw was Jordan sitting at a desk, his headphones sitting firmly over his ears, nodding his head to some music Tom didn’t recognize.

“Uh, hello?” He called, not too loudly since he was scared of the other guy coming out.

Jordan spun his chair around and looked over to Tom.

“Oh, hi!” He quickly took off his headphones, but the music kept playing.

“Hi… uh, you called for me?” Tom slowly got closer.

“Yeah,” Jordan quickly arranged some papers and set them on the desk. “Please sit down.”

Tom looked around and saw that there was a couch sat by the wall adjacent to the desk. He bit his lips together before going to sit down on the couch. He could feel Jordan’s eyes on him. He felt weirdly naked.  
  
That was the first time Tom noticed his eyes.

His eyes were more than plain old green. They were the green the brings the earth back to life after an unforgiving cold. The green that revives grass from the harsh conditions of winter. And there was a certain sadness in them, one that was deeper than Tom could ever fully understand.

“So, you’ve met the other guy.” Jordan started, leaning back in his chair, suddenly looking less intimidating than he remembered, wearing a pair of red trimmed glasses and a loose white button-up shirt.

“Yeah.” Tom awkwardly rubbed his hands together.

“And he didn’t try to kill you.” Jordan leaned forward to prop himself up with his arms on his knees.

“Correct.”

“He didn’t touch you; he didn’t lunge at you. You two had a full conversation. How did you do that?”

“I didn’t do anything.” Tom didn’t mean to sound so defensive. “It was a one-sided conversation anyway, he kept telling me about all the people he killed.”

“We’ve killed.” Jordan corrected. He scratched the scruff of beard he had. “We’ve killed many, Tom.”

“I’m aware _he_ killed. Not you. Everyone talks highly of you.” Tom finally leaned forward. “You can save what he kills.”

“And he kills what I save. It’s a vicious cycle.” Jordan sighed, picking up his glasses and setting them on the desk. “I’m going to ask you one last time: what did you do?”

“I don’t get what the big deal is, Jordan.” Tom grumbled. “So, what if he didn’t touch me one time? It’s not like I’ve come in direct contact with him again after that.”

Anger flickered across Jordan’s eyes and suddenly Tom was being lifted from the couch and thrown against the wall, his face inches closer from Tom’s.

“I’m losing my patience, Thomas.”

“Well, we at least are gaining something,” Tom replied monotone. He wasn’t exactly sure what compelled him to say that when he knew this guy could murder him in seconds.

Jordan opened his mouth to say something, his jaw clenched. Then he shut it immediately and let off, resorting to pacing the room instead.

“How hard is one simple question for you to answer?”

“I have answered. I did absolutely nothing. Maybe you should ask him why and find out.”

Jordan was storming back over to Tom, still furious. He pointed a finger at him. “Do not test me. I can kill you in seconds.”

“Maybe you can, but the other guy won’t.”

Jordan’s fist connected with Tom’s jaw. Tom let out a loud groan of pain. “Jesus, what was that for?”

“I do not have time to deal with a bottom feeder like you. Knock it off with the smart-ass monologue.”

“Just one question,” Tom moved his aching jaw around before continuing, “Do you swing that way?”

Jordan stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

“I was just wondering, ‘cause the other guy sure wants to bang me or something.” Jordan swung his fist again and this time Tom ducked. Jordan’s fist connected with the wall. He hissed in pain and began shaking his fingers.

“I’m not going to discuss my sexuality with a stranger.” Jordan said through gritted teeth.

“Alright, mate, jeez. I’m sorry.” Tom said as Jordan turned towards him until they were face to face again. Tom stared at his lips. _If only he leaned in closer…_

Then Jordan suddenly moved backwards as if something pushed him back, grabbing his head. “You need to get out.”

“What can I do?” Tom asked, worry in his voice.

“Get out!” Jordan pointed at the door before falling to his knees.

“Fight it!” Tom raised his voice. “Make him go away!”

“It… doesn’t… work like that…” Jordan sounded like he was in so much pain.

Tom knew he should be running and locking the door. He knew that being in the same room with an insane psychopath was a terrible idea and was certainly not something people thought about doing. But he couldn’t leave.

Jordan was laughing.

No… not Jordan.

_Him._

Tom’s eyes locked with a pair of crimson ones.

“Finally… I was wondering when he would let me play with you.” He said as he leaned in closer to Tom. “How are you doing today, Tom? You’re looking beautiful. Cleaner, well-trimmed.”

Tom didn’t answer. His eyes were focused on the other’s hands. The tip of his fingers became black, and it slowly traveled up his arm, as if his veins got filled with black ink.

“It’s rude to ignore people.”

“I think it’s within my rights to ignore sex crazed super villains.” Tom pursed his lips before biting them together.

He laughed and Tom felt himself shiver. “My, oh my, Thomas…”

He got dangerously close to Tom’s face; he could feel his breath on his skin. It felt toxic, electric, and there was a part of Tom that wanted to close the gap, just to know how he really felt like.

“I’m not the only one who wants you, Tom,” He paused and looked at the mirror on the other side of the wall. “He wants you too.”

Tom swallowed hard, his eyes not leaving Not-Jordan. Dark. He turned his head back to Tom and smirked, which scared and intrigued Tom. There were a few moments where they only stared into each other’s eyes, conflicting thoughts racing between both of their heads before _finally_ the gap was closed, their lips colliding and teeth clashing.

Tom was going to die.

But he was somehow okay with it.

As they kissed, Tom’s hands found themselves into Dark’s hair, pulling him closer. He had Tom fully pinned against the wall and he wasn’t being gentle. But if his body was going to wither away, none of the bruises mattered. Hands snuck under Tom’s shirt and clawed at his back, teeth bit his lips until they bled, and Tom didn’t know whether he was in Heaven or Hell, but he also didn’t care.

He was never holy.

The more touches that came, the more Tom was waiting for his imminent death. Yet… it wouldn’t come. Minutes passed, his neck had bruises upon bruises, but death never came.

This hit Tom back into reality. His hands found the side of Dark’s face to stop him for a moment.

“I’m not dead.” Tom said while staring directly into the other’s crimson eyes.

There was a pause. Tom could see it in his eyes he was trying to process the information given. Then his eyes went wide and his mouth fell slightly agape in pure shock.

“You’re… not dead.” Dark repeated and for a second he could see Jordan’s eyes mix with his own.

“You can’t kill me.” Tom stated and before Dark could speak again, Tom kissed him hard. Dark forgot what he was going to say instantly, focusing on kissing Tom once more.

It was less desperate this time; instead the kiss was tender, intimate, careful, and Tom realized that Dark had probably never felt anyone like this before. Some roughness slipped by, but they didn’t care. And he kissed him. And he kissed him. And he kissed him. _And he kissed him_.

As if he was scared the moment he moved away, the other would crumble to the ground and disappear.

And he kissed him and kissed him and kissed him, over and over even when there was no breath in his lungs anymore.

Because this moment felt like the only moment he had where he could truly feel free.

But all things must come to an end, because when Dark suddenly pulled back, it wasn’t Dark anymore, Jordan’s eyes meeting Tom’s after so long.

“You’re not dead.” Jordan mumbled in awe.

“I’m not dead.” Tom repeated, a dopey smile on his face.

Jordan pulled away, coughing awkwardly. He didn’t seem familiar with this tender closeness, and while Dark seemed to crave it, Jordan was shying away from it. Tom couldn’t blame him.

“I expected to be dust the next time we saw each other.” Tom as he collected himself and moved away from the wall.

“Go away.” Jordan said as he took a seat on his chair, letting his head fall in his hands.

This time, Tom understood that it wasn’t about Dark. Jordan needed time to process things.

“I’ll be here when you want me back.” Tom said as he headed towards the door.

When Jordan didn’t answer, he slowly headed up the stairs, leaving the door unlocked.

At the top of the stairs, he saw Spark waiting for him. He seemed to have been there for a while now. Tom instinctively pulled up his cover to hide the bruises on his neck. As soon as Spark saw Tom, he instinctively got ready to pull Tom out to safety, but when he noticed that Tom was walking fine, he deflated.

“No encounter with the other guy?” Spark asked.

“No, I only talked to Jordan.” Tom lied. He didn’t know exactly why he was lying. Maybe it was because he still hadn’t fully processed what the fuck happened back there.

“You two seemed to have gotten along very well.” Spark chuckled and Tom could tell he was staring at his neck.

“Hey! That’s private stuff!” He pulled the collar of his shirt further up.

Spark shook his head and moved away from the staircase so Tom could walk out of it. When Tom did, Spark grabbed Tom by the collar and slammed him to the wall. What was with Jordan and Spark and slamming people to the wall? Tom stared up at him confused.

“Don’t break his heart. I will kill you if you do.” Spark growled.

_I can’t die, though_ Tom wanted to say, but found himself unable to.

Instead, he just quietly said “I won’t.”

“Good.” Spark let him go and patted his shoulders. “I only want the best for my brother.”

“I don’t know if I am considered as ‘best’.” Tom adjusted his shirt.

“You have to be.” Spark glared down at him. “Or else…”

Tom gulped and saluted Spark. “Sir, yes sir!”

Spark rolled his eyes. “Go back to your room.”

Tom laughed and took a few steps facing backwards to salute Spark again. “Sir, yes sir!” Tom said before he took off running towards his room.

* * *

Tom found himself once again in his own bed, staring at the ceiling. Things were fucking weird and he didn’t fully get it.

At some point he left to take a shower and when he came back, he saw Karl at his door. Tom pulled the towel off of his head and walked over.

“Hey, I am so sorry, how long have you been waiting?” Tom asked, opening the door for them to enter the room.

“Not long,” Karl answered. “I just wanted to check up on you. I was doing my rounds and when I got back, Tucker told me what happened in the bathroom, then I heard Jordan called for you-

Karl looked at the bruises on Tom’s neck. “Which I can only guess it went extraordinarily.” He chuckled.

Tom felt himself going red as he sat down on the bed while Karl sat down at his desk, still facing him.

“I, uh… yeah, a lot happened today. I’m just glad that the day is over, y’know?” Tom sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Jordan is a very strange guy.”

Karl nodded. “Very strange indeed. But we all care about him, and if you managed to get through to him even a little bit to have-“ he gestured at Tom’s neck.” -that all over you, then I think things are looking up to be pretty good.”

“I can only hope so.” Tom sighed.

“Be honest with me, though.” Karl’s expression got more serious.

“Okay?” Tom raised a brow curiously.

“Did you talk to the other guy while you were down there?”

Tom paused; his mind overwhelmed with thoughts. He didn’t know what to tell Karl. The truth? Half-truth? A believable lie?

“I did.” He finally answered. “I don’t really want to elaborate.”

Karl huffed, but didn’t argue.

“Don’t fly too close to the sun, mate.” Karl said as he got up. “In this case you won’t only get burned, but you will die.”

Tom didn’t say anything. He just watched Karl leave his room.

As soon as Karl was gone, he lied back into his bed, grabbed his pillow and screamed hard into it.

He was so tired. He had no idea what was happening, he didn’t understand anyone in this fucking house, and more than anything he couldn’t understand himself.

First, there are strange people after him, that want to _kill him_. Second, his eyes are wrong, instead of them being the brown he remembered, they were a weird blue. Third, and probably the stupidest thing, was that he couldn’t die.

He couldn’t die.

Or at least Dark couldn’t kill him.

Because as far as he was aware, Dark was supposed to kill him right then and there. But he didn’t. And Tom was still there, alive, breathing. That prompted Tom to touch his face, as if that would confirm in some way that he was really there.

He didn’t get it. He was human. He wasn’t a talent. He wasn’t…

When Tom looked down at his own hand, he screamed.

**Author's Note:**

> When you read the Jordan workout scene, go back and rereading while playing the Hit This Hard by Post Malone from 2:45 onward so you can understand everything that i felt while writing that. Thank you,


End file.
